


The Secret Second Life Of Bucky Barnes

by VampireVengence



Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, Hawkeye (Comics), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Clucky - Freeform, Domestic, Fluff, Gen, M/M, Secret Boyfried, Secret Identity, Secrets, clint is clueless, sniper boyfriends, super boyfriends, winter soldier - Freeform, winterhawk - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-10
Updated: 2017-07-10
Packaged: 2018-11-30 07:58:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11459361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VampireVengence/pseuds/VampireVengence
Summary: Ever wondered what the Winter Soldier was doing all that time he was missing? Well now you can find out.





	The Secret Second Life Of Bucky Barnes

Clint smirked down at his phone as the dorky ID photo for his boyfriend popped up indicating he had a text.

_Are you done yet? I'm bored!! xx_

He resisted the urge to laugh as he sent a quick reply. James was like an impatient child at times, he should know by now debriefing takes forever especially when it involves robotic monkeys that spit acid.

Fury cleared his throat and sent Clint a look. "Something you'd like to to share with the class Barton?" He watched as Tony sniggered in his seat across the large table. "My dog threw up on my rug." He said with a shrug, completely straight faced. Fury gave an exasperated sigh as Tony cracked up. "Bet Kate's loving that." Natasha smirked and Clint rolled his eyes.

The others had a theory that he and Kate had something going on. That was so many levels of wrong that Clint didn't even know where to begin. Kate was Kate; his protege, his partner, his mini Hawkeye. No way would they ever go there.  _Ever._ She was also the only one who knew about James. They both spent like 90% of their time at his apartment in Bed Stuy so it was inevitable that they would meet. To her credit though, Kate hadn't told a soul.

The debriefing lasted another half an hour before they were finally free to go. Clint was having a hard time forcing himself not to just flat out run to his car. "Whoa slow down Barton!" Tony called after him and he held in a groan.  
"I'm sure Lucky's fine." Steve chipped in. His naivety was quite frankly adorable.

"We're having a movie night tonight. You should come, bring Kate too if you want." Clint gave a half shrug, checking his phone for messages again."Uh-huh. Yeah, sure... maybe." He muttered, not really listening.

He turned to start walking again and nearly collided with Sam and Rhodey. "Whoa, careful Hawkeye!" Sam laughed.   
"Sorry. How'd it go with A.I.M?" Clint asked, making a point of ignoring Tony's sniggering. Rhodey gave a shrug.  
"Yeah it was a pretty easy task to be honest."  
"Yeah mostly just crowd control." Sam added

Before any more could be said Fury called them in for their own debriefing, providing Clint with the perfect opportunity to escape.

He released a sigh of relief as he closed the door of his apartment behind him. "Well about damn time." Clint grinned at the familiar Brooklyn drawl."You know Fury goes on forever." He replied, pausing in the doorway, smiling at his boyfriend who was curled up on the couch with Lucky resting next to him, head in his lap.

"Those better not be my doritos." He added sitting down on the arm of the couch next to his head.  
"Whatcha gonna do about it?" He grinned, wrapping an arm around Clint's waist and pulling him down into the minute space between his body and the arm. He leant in and kissed him softly, shifting slightly and disturbing Lucky who lifted his head and gave them a thoroughly unimpressed look. James laughed before scratching him behind the ears and allowing Clint to stretch his legs across his lap. Lucky rolled his eye before licking dorito crumbs off metal fingers and then resting his head on Clint's lap.

Clint smiled softly, resting his head on James' shoulder. "So, how was your day?" Clint, asked desperate to talk about anything other than Avengers business. "Alright." He shrugged. "Walked Lucky, cleaned his puke off the rug." Clint snorted.  
"I told you, you have to feed him more than just pizza." James rolled his eyes as Lucky snapped to attention, glancing between them excitedly.  
"No." James said flatly. "You made enough mess earlier." Lucky lowered his head dejectedly back on to Clint's lap causing him to grin and stroke his affectionately.

"Oh, Kate called. Something about boomerang arrows? I wasn't really listening but she was cussing like a trooper so I reckon something malfunctioned." Clint groaned. He was gonna have to do some serious sucking up to Stark if she'd managed to break them.

"Well done on the robo-monkeys by the way... and not doing press." Clint was banned from talking to any news or TV people after a little concussion related babbling incident. It was Steve's fault really, he was supposed to be watching him until the medics got there. "Well you know me, I am the human embodiment of smooth." James snorted. "You are a human train wreck and you know it." Clint feigned hurt.  
"That's cold Barnes." He just kissed his cheek in response.

"So... Dog Cops marathon tonight?" Clint asked. After today he just wanted to curl up with his boyfriend and watch mindless TV.  
"Sorry doll, I'm supervising cooking class tonight."

James worked at the local community centre that specialised in helping disabled children. The kids absolutely adored him and it was the perfect way for him to give back, to help people the way he was helped after his accident.

"Rain check?" He asked hopefully and Clint smiled.   
"Alright. But I'm holding you too it." He laughed, gently taking a grip of Clint's chin and turning his face to him. He pressed a quick kiss to his lips.  
"Like I could leave my best guy hanging." Clint rolled his eyes.  
"Alright old man, settle down." James grinned and pressed a kiss to his temple.

Sometimes James would speak and Clint would hear Steve. He was a bit of a World War Two nerd and had a thing for the era in general. Music, film, he was like a walking encyclopedia of random 40s knowledge. He could give Coulson a run for his money.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Clint curled up in the corner armchair and spent most of the evening texting. He grinned as he received a picture of James crouching next to a small blonde girl who was maybe three or four, both of them covered in flour. Her name was Casey and she'd taken a real shine to James. He was really proud of her progress, she was no longer ashamed of her prosthetic leg and her confidence was through the roof.

He jolted as an M&M hit him in the side of the head. He glared at Tony who just grinned mischievously at him. "I told you to just bring Kate with you. None of us would have minded." Clint rolled his eyes and turned back to his phone.  
"For your information, Kate is on a date."

Everyone turned to look at him in total shock, movie completely forgotten. "What?" Clint sighed, thoroughly unimpressed.  
"Some guy she knows. Elroy? Eli? Something like that." He could feel everyone's eyes on him as he once again turned back to his phone.  
"So what's with all the texting?" Tony finally asked, breaking the mildly stunned silence. Clint shrugged.  
"I do have friends outside of you guys." Natasha snorted and shook her head.  
"Oh please, you're helpless without us." The tension dissipated and the conversation quickly moved on.

Clint hated lying to his friends but he was determined to keep his avenging life and his private life separate. He didn't want James to be hassled by the press and he didn't want to put him at risk of being targeted by some crazy bad guy who wanted to use him as leveridge. No, he couldn't do that to him.

"So who's this mysterious friend of yours then?" Nat asked quietly, eyebrow raised. He felt a pang of guilt in his chest as he looked at her. She was his best friend and he hadn't even told her about it. "Gill, he lives across the hall." It was only half a lie really. The guy who lived across the hall was called Gill and they were friends... ish. "Aww, check you out! Socialising all by yourself." Clint rolled his eyes and ignored them as another text pinged up on his phone. 

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

"So how was your evening?" James called from the bathroom where he was washing flour from his fair.  
"Eh. We watched Die Hard again, I rolled my eyes through a bunch of Kate jokes." He was laid out on the bed in his pajama bottoms as his phone buzzed on the bed side table. It was a text from Kate giving the low down on her date.  _So many heart emojis!_ "So the usual then?" Clint smiled as James came in, rubbing a towel over his short messy hair. "Pretty much."

"You up to anything tomorrow?" He asked as he dropped down onto the bed. Clint shrugged rolling onto his side with a smile.  
"Not unless there's a sudden Avengers related emergency. Why?" James smiled, settling himself down so he was facing Clint, grey eyes sparkling in the low light.  
"Well, I was thinking... you should come down to the centre with me tomorrow. Meet the kids, see what we do." He gave a one shouldered shrug as Clint blinked in surprise, a smile breaking out on his face. "Yeah?" James smiled too, nodding along.   
"I don't have a proper family to introduce you too, but these guys are as close as it gets."

Clint lent in and pressed a kiss to James' chapped lips. He couldn't help but feel a little guilty. "I wish I could do the same for you." But James shook his head.  
"Don't do that to yourself. I get it, okay? Your world is crazy and I'm more than happy staying away from that." God how did he get so lucky? He leant in and kissed him again. "Well I'd be honoured." 

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

"Jay!" A small blonde barrelled straight into James' arms as he bent down to pull her into a hug.  
"Hey Case!" He grinned warmly. Clint recognised her from the picture the previous evening. "Now I want to introduce you to Clint." She looked up at him with wide blue eyes. "Hi." She stuck a hand out to him, clearly not shy.   
"Nice to meet you Casey." Clint took her hand and crouched down so he was closer to her level. She grinned brightly at him in response.

There was a slight commotion as a girl with one arm rushed over and pretty soon James was being dragged over to where a girl sat sobbing hysterically. "That's Jemma. Her boyfriend broke up with her... again." Casey told him matter of factly.  
"Oh no." Clint said sympathetically but she just shrugged.  
"It's happened like a hundred times." Clint didn't know what to say to that.

"What are those?" She asked, changing the subject entirely as she pointed to his ears. He smiled softly, gently pulling out one of his hearing aids out and gently placing it in her hand. "They're called hearing aids. I'm deaf and they help me hear." She stared at it intently for a moment.  
"They don't look like normal hearing aids." She concluded. Clint smiled softly as he put it back in.  
"They're special in ear ones that my friend made for me." She nodded enthusiastically.

"You must be Clint." He looked up to see a petite brunet woman smiling down at him.  
"Yeah." He said quickly standing to shake her hand.   
"I'm Wanda. James has told us a lot about you." She smiled warmly, indicating for him to follow her.  
"Nothing bad I hope." She chuckled softly, shaking her head lightly.  
"Not at all."

He followed her into a small office room which only held a desk with a computer and two chairs. "When my brother and I were ten years old there was a fire in our apartment building, our parents were killed and Pietro was injured. A falling beam crushed his legs and he had to have them amputated."

Clint's jaw dropped in surprise. He hadn't been expecting to be told any of this. "I'm so sorry." She shrugged, unfazed.   
"It is okay, we are both fine now. It is why we started this place. It is a place for them to be kids, for them to feel safe. A place where they do not have to worry about being judged for being different. It is everything we didn't have. All the support they need, we give because no one should have to feel like they are going through this on their own." Clint smiled, nodding along with her passionate words.  
"It's a wonderful place you've built here. You do amazing work."

She smiled and nodded, eyes glancing out the window to a small basketball court where a few kids were playing with a young man Clint could only assume to be Pietro. His hair was white blonde on top and a dark brown lower down. He had two prosthetic legs.

"Thanks for letting me visit. It means a lot." She smiled warmly, nodding.  
"Well you are a big inspiration to these kids. You show them they really can do anything they want." Clint blinked surprised, he hadn't been expecting that. "Don't worry." She smiled brightly. "We won't make you do a talk or anything." He gave a light laugh, shaking his head slightly.  
"Thanks."

He headed out and found James sat crossed legged on the floor being made to look like a fairy, sparkling make up included. "Well aren't you a pretty princes?" Clint grinned as the three girls giggled . James opened an eye to squint up at him. "The prettiest. You're up next." Clint just laughed.  
"Not a chance."

"Alright guys, movie time." There were various shrieks of delight as all the kids rushed over to the TV which had been set up in the corner. There was a couch and several armchairs as well as a few bean bags and cushions. It had the appearance of being haphazardly thrown together to accommodate whoever had shown up. The kids happily bundled in together, way too many to a chair to be truly comfortable. "Okay so tonights choices are: Shrek or Frozen." Clint heard James groan beside him and felt a smirk take over his face.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

"Hey Jay!" He called as he poked his head round the bathroom door where James was stood scrubbing furiously at the pink sparkly eyeshadow that seemed to have taken over his entire face. "What?" He grumbled, eyeing Clint suspiciously in the mirror.  
"Do you wanna build a snowman?" He giggled to himself as he quickly darted back out of the room, listening as something, probably the wash cloth, hit the door frame were his head had been seconds prior. 

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

Clint groaned in protest at the feeling of being shaken awake. He opened his bleary eyes to find the clock on his bed side table telling him it was 8am. He grudgingly rolled onto his back with a huff, but before he got the chance to bitch out his boyfriend for waking him up his phone was being shoved into his face. It was flashing a variety of different colours indicating several missed calls and messages as well as an Avengers alert.  _Aww man!_

Before he could even unlock the damn thing to find out what was going on it began to vibrate violently in his hand.  _Steve._ With a sigh he answered . "The world better be ending if I'm getting Avenger alerts at 8am on a Sunday." Judging by the look on Steve's face Clint was pretty glad he didn't have his aids in yet.  
"Suit up. We'll be there in 10." The words briefly appeared at the bottom of the screen before the call cut out.

He blinked a couple times before sitting up and slipping in his aids. "Sorry." He mumbled pressing a kiss to James' cheek.   
"Don't be. He sounded pretty pissed though, you might wanna get ready." He had an oddly apprehensive look in his eyes as he frowned.  _Aww sad face, no._ Clint leant in and pressed a second kiss to his temple. "Hey, it'll be okay."

James nodded, seeming to shake himself from whatever thoughts were troubling him. "I'll have a pot of coffee ready for you." Clint grinned at his amazing boyfriend as he swung his legs over the side of the bed, doing his best not to disturb Lucky who was lounging across the bottom. "And maybe have the dog walked?" He received a thoroughly unimpressed look. "Don't push it."

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

Turned out they were under attack from mutated human eating plants so Clint decided he could forgive the early hour.

"Feed me Seymour." Tony cackled as he blew up one of the giant venus fly traps, causing a fountain of sticky green goo to spray out everywhere, completely soaking Clint. "Ack, it stinks!" He whined, doing his best not to gag.  
"Don't be a baby." Natasha's voice came over the comms.   
"How about you take a plant guts shower, then you get to bitch at me."

He shot off three arrows in quick succession slicing through three of the giant plants that were starting to encircle Natasha. She let out a surprised gasp as they splattered her in gunk. She quickly dispatched the remaining two before glaring across at Clint. "I am going to make you regret that Barton." He winked at her mischievously.   
"Oh,it's on."

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

"You two are gonna stink out the quinjet!" Tony complained as he pulled off the Iron Man helmet.  
"What happened to you two?" Bruce looked surprised as he took in Clint and Nat's sticky, goo soaked appearance.

Luckily for him they hadn't needed him for a code green so he'd managed to avoid all contact with the killer plants. Though Clint remained of the opinion that watching the Hulk smash giant flowers would have been hilarious.

"Plant guts." Clint said with a shrug. It had quite frankly gotten everywhere. Even Steve was holding his shield with a look of distaste where it was coated in goop.

Clint put his bow and quiver back in the weapons rack before retrieving his phone. He smirked as he read over the text he'd received from Kate. 

_Killer Plants?! So glad I'm not the Avenger Hawkeye!_

"Aww, you guys share a superhero name? That's so cute!" Clint rolled his eyes.  
"Of course we do. She's the only one who even comes close to my level of awesomeness and apparently 'Hawkling' isn't cool enough." Tony laughed as Steve shook his head. "Let's get out of here." He muttered, heading through to the cockpit.

Clint watched him go with a frown. Before he could say anything though he felt his phone vibrate in his hand. He unlocked it to see a text from James. 

_Well done on not getting eaten xxx_

"Who's James?" Clint jumped in surprise, he hadn't even noticed Bruce creep up on him. "New guy. Moved in on my floor a couple months back."  _Not technically a lie.  
_ "And he sends you kisses?"  _God damn it Bruce!  
_ "What can I say? He's a friendly guy."  _Fuck! Shit! Fuck, fuck, fuck!_ "Cap's right, we should get going."

He quickly made his way through to the cockpit, taking his position in the pilot's seat and initiating the the start up procedure. He watched Steve from the corner of his eye and decided this could only be a Bucky Barnes related mood.

"Alright, what anniversary is it that you're not telling us about?" Steve blinked in surprise before raising an eyebrow.  
"Huh?" Clint did his best approximation of Steve's signature unimpressed look.  
"Is it his birthday? Did you see a Barnes shaped leaf in amongst the carnage?" Steve gave a dry humourless laugh. "Come on Cap talk to me."

Steve pursed his lips a moment before sighing and giving in. "It's just... it's been almost a year since we made any progress in finding him. Every trail goes cold, every little clue end up useless. I just don't know what to do any more." Clint wasn't really sure what to say to that. Hell, he was in no way qualified to be helping Steve with his emotional baggage. "Maybe it's time to accept that he just doesn't want to be found." Steve didn't seem too pleased with that answer. "Look at it this way. You've done everything you can so now you've just gotta give him time. When he's ready he'll come to you." 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

"You smell like something died." Clint gave his boyfriend a thoroughly unimpressed look as he pushed past him to get into the apartment, he was well aware of that thanks. "Well the plant died." Clint muttered, dropping his gear onto the coffee table and heading towards the bathroom.

"You're home early." James mused as he shut the door.   
"I skipped debriefing to take a shower." Clint called back as he stripped off his sticky clothes and ran the water.  
"Well you arrived at a great time, I just ordered pizza." Clint smirked to himself as he imagined Lucky's head shooting upright with excitement.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

Clint got out of the shower feeling refreshed and significantly cleaner than when he'd gone in.

He vaguely registered the sound of shouting though he had no idea what was being said. It had to be pretty damn loud though. He quickly grabbed his aids and wrapped a towel around his waist to go and investigate.

"Barton!"  _Uh-oh._ He paused in the doorway looking in total confusion at the situation before him. Steve was stood in the entry way, hands clenched and quite clearly pissed off. James was watching him with weary eyes from where he stood, having just opened the door.  _Oh shit._ "Uh, hey Steve."

Steve's eyes flicked towards him with a dark glare. "Are you kidding me?! Is that the best you've got?!" Clint blinked in surprise, taken aback by his tone.  
"Uh, sorry? I know Fury wanted us all at debrief bu-"  
"What the fuck Clint?!" Steve cut him off, fuming. "I opened up to you! You damn well know what I've been going through! All this time and you knew and you didn't say anything!" Clint blinked in utter confusion. He felt like he'd zoned out for half the conversation.  
"He didn't know." James spoke up for the first time only succeeding in confusing Clint further.

Completely ignoring him, Steve started to stalk towards Clint. Before he got more than a few steps however James was there, blocking his way. "He didn't know." He repeated, voice a deadly calm. Steve's expression transformed to one of hurt and confusion as he turned to faces the dark haired man. "Buck..."  _Okay what the hell is happening?!_ "Someone want to explain what the hell is going on here?"

There was a long silence as the pair just stood staring at each other. A tight knot was starting to form in Clint's stomach as he stalked towards them, stopping between them and placing the hand that wasn't gripping his towel onto his hip. "Start talking. Now."

His eyes met with James and his expression faltered, pain and worry flashing across his face. He swallowed nervously before slowly nodding and looking down at his feet, lips pursed. Clint had the distinct feeling he wasn't going to like what he was going to say next.

"My full name is James Buchanan Barnes. I was born in 1917 and fought in the 107th during World War Two before joining the Howling Commando's where I fell from a train and nearly died. I was then found by Hydra who turned me into the Winter Soldier."

Clint choked on nothing and took an involuntary step backwards. "No, no, no, no." The guilt and pain in his expression said it all and Clint's stomach twisted violently. "I've had the Winter Soldier living in my apartment for the past six months?!"

Steve's expression turned to one of shock as he glanced between them. "Clint." He began, taking a step towards Clint but he just ignored him, eyes fixed on James. "So what? This was some brilliant scheme to get to Steve?" He asked, hands balled into fists.   
"What? No! Clint come on." Hurt flashed across his face as Clint took another step back shaking his head back and forth.  
"You know what? You two sort out your shit. I'm not dealing with this right now."

He stormed off towards his bedroom and slammed the door before sinking down and leaning against it. He gave a sigh and let the tears make their way down his cheeks. He really shouldn't have expected any less, things never went right for him.

He felt a damp nose press against his hand and opened an eye to see Lucky sat watching him patiently. He lifted a hand, gently placing it on his head as the dog placed his head in his lap. "Looks like it's just you and me again pal."

There was a knock on the door about an hour later as Clint pulled a t-shirt over his head. "Go away." He snapped, causing Lucky to lift his head at the tone.  
"We need to talk about this." James (Bucky?) opened the door anyway and closed it behind him.  
"Has anything you've told me been true?" Clint gritted out. Bucky looked guilty instantly.   
"Nothing I ever told you was a total lie just... edited truths?" He offered, only making Clint scowl.  
"So in other words no."

Bucky sighed and took a step forward, running a hand through his hair. "It's not like I wanted to lie to you. When we first met I had everything settled. I had this whole new life, totally free of my past. I could be anyone I wanted to be and for the first time ever I wasn't looking over my shoulder. I didn't know who you were, I just didn't want to lose you. How would you have reacted if I'd told you who I was when we first met? Honestly?" Clint opened his mouth to talk only to close it. "Exactly." Clint gave a frustrated sigh and rubbed at the bridge of his nose. "You are going to tell me everything from the very beginning. The truth this time." Bucky nodded. True to his word, he started from scratch.

"And then I got taken out by this monster." He said with an affectionate tone, sitting on the edge of the bed and stroking Lucky fondly. Clint's mouth twitched at the memory. He hadn't had Lucky long and he'd only been well enough to go out for a week tops. He'd taken him to the park and instantly the lunatic had bolted, leaving Clint chasing after him and screaming insults. He'd just about caught up with him when Lucky had ploughed straight into the hot jogger, knocking them both into the pond. Clint didn't think he'd ever apologised so much in his life.

"I really didn't know who you were when we first met." He looked up from Lucky, expression serious once more.  
"Would it have made a difference?" Clint wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer. Bucky shrugged.  
"I don't know. Maybe, maybe not. Maybe I would have run a mile." Well at least he was being honest.

"So what happens now?" Clint asked as he sat down on the opposite side of the bed, scratching Lucky behind the ears. "Steve kidnapping you and taking you in to S.H.I.E.L.D?"   
"Steve can go fuck himself." Clint couldn't help but smile at that.  
"Pretty sure you're not allowed to say that to Captain America. It's like unconstitutional or something." Bucky just laughed, shaking his head slightly.  
"Good thing he ain't in uniform."

They lapsed into silence a moment before thing turned serious once more. "I'm not going anywhere until we've sorted this out." He said frankly as Clint avoided his gaze. "It's a lot to deal with." Clint finally offered, none too sure where he was supposed to start.  
"I know. I get it, I just... I just need to know if we're gonna be okay. I love you Clint, more than anything." He felt a lump in his throat slightly as he thought carefully about what to say next.

"You know you shot my best friend once." Is what his mouth decided to go with, instantly making his brain cringe and Bucky rear back in surprise. "I, uh... I shot a lot of people Clint."  _Yeah fair point._ God what would Nat think when she found out he was dating the Winter Soldier? Wait- was he dating the Winter Soldier?  _Guess that's what we're here to figure out._

"I still love you..." Clint began, still trying to figure out where exactly he was going with this. "This is gonna take a while to get my head around... I appreciate the honesty even if I am pissed off about being lied to. I just... I need time... I, I need to know I can trust you." Bucky nodded slowly, face sombre.  
"Okay. I understand."

When they headed out Steve was stood awkwardly in the kitchen, mug of coffee in hand. He cleared his throat awkwardly as he sent Clint a sympathetic look. "Sorry for yelling." He mumbled awkwardly scratching at the back of his neck. "It's okay. I'd have probably reacted the same way. This is a very... unique situation."  _Ha! Way to state the obvious Clint._ Luckily Steve just gave him a relieved smile.

He cleared his throat again before straightening up and placing his mug on the counter. "We need to get you to S.H.I.E.L.D, get them to shut down the search party." Not that it had done them any good. "No. We're not taking him to S.H.I.E.L.D." Clint stated flatly, folding his arms across his chest. "Walking one of the world's most infamous assassins into the most secret government agencies in the US who just so happen to have been hunting him for years. Yeah that's definitely a good idea." Steve opened his mouth to argue before scowling instead. "Fine. What would you suggest?" 

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

"No. Absolutely not!" Clint rolled his eyes as he grabbed the T.V. remote and started to flick through the channels. Steve and Tony were stood arguing in the kitchen and had been since he and Steve had shown up at the tower with Bucky in tow, telling them he was staying and they needed to call Fury for an important chat. Tony had been pretty damn set against it and Nat had just stood up and walked out. Clint had been pretty hurt by that but he couldn't really blame her. 

"You think they'll be going at it much longer?" Bucky asked as he watched them from the corner of his eye. He'd been wound and tense since he'd stepped through the door. "Trust me, they've been a lot worse." He blinked and turned to face Clint in surprise.   
"This happens a lot?" Clint just shrugged.   
"Not so much now but they used to argue all the time. Now it just tends to go on for a bit." Bucky just frowned.

"What in the hell is going on here?!" Both Clint and Bucky turned to find Nick Fury stood in the entrance of the elevator, arms folded across his chest with Natasha and Maria Hill on either side of him.  _Oh this is gonna be fun._

"Hey Nick. What brings you here?" He raised an eyebrow at Clint, thoroughly unimpressed.  
"Do not play games with me Barton. You are not in the clear yet." Clint opened his mouth to argue but Natasha sent him a warning look over Nick's shoulder which quickly shut him up.

"You're not taking him." Steve came storming out of the kitchen, Tony hot on his heals.  
"We need to bring him into S.H.I.E.L.D. The WSC-"  
"Fuck the WSC!" Steve interrupted and suddenly everyone was shouting at each other.

Clint gave a frustrated sigh as all the voices blurred together into an unintelligible mess that his aids had no hope of sorting through. "Everyone just shut up!" He snapped, rubbing at his temples.

All heads turned to him in surprised at the sudden outburst. "What do you want to do?" Bucky startled in surprise, he clearly hadn't been expecting anyone to actually ask for his opinion on his future. "I, uh..." he paused for a moment and frowned. "What do the WSC want from me?"   
"Bucky no!" He just rolled his eyes.   
"Shut up Stevie." He muttered, turning to face Nick fully.   
"A full health evaluation, both mental and physical, but that's just to start." He warned. "They'll probably want you interviewed, someone will need to look over the arm." Bucky gave a solemn nod.

"So they don't actually need him to come into S.H.I.E.L.D?" Clint clarified.  
"He needs to be somewhere secure." Hill argued.   
"So he stay's here." Steve stated. "Surrounded by the world's leading superhero's, what could be more secure?" She clearly didn't buy it.   
"24 hours surveillance." Steve raised an eyebrow at Clint.   
"Done."

She gave a huff and folded her arms across her chest before turning to Fury for back up. "Alright. I expect daily check in's and we are to be informed every time you have to leave the tower, regardless of the reason." Hill's jaw dropped in disbelief.   
"Sir this is completely insane!" Fury didn't seem too bothered.  
"Maybe it is Hill, but maybe that's why it just might work."

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

Clint woke up with a light jolt, dazed and confused. It took him a moment to realise he was back on his floor in the tower rather than his apartment. He rolled over to find he was alone. He sat up with a frown and grabbed his hearing aids off the bedside table as he checked the time.  _3 am._

He slowly got up, grabbing his bow and quiver on his way out the door. Luckily he didn't need it. He found Bucky standing in the living room, staring out of the large floor to ceiling window at the city all around them.

"How long do you think before the press get a hold of this?" Clint blinked in surprise, slowly putting down his weapon.  
"S.H.I.E.L.D will crush anything before it gets out, you're safe." He turned to face Clint, the tension obvious in his shoulders. Face ashen and full of anguish.  
"I am so sorry. I've totally ruined your life." Clint frowned and took a step closer, gently placing a hand on the assassins shoulder.  
"Jay come o-" The sentence died on his lips as his brain caught up with his words and he internally cringed.

Bucky stiffened, the shock clear on his face as Clint took a step back. Hastily removing his hand. "Sorry." He muttered, feeling awkward. "Habit I guess." Bucky just shook his head. "No, it's okay.

They fell into an uncomfortable silence and he flopped down onto the couch. Clint had a feeling this was going to be painful. Bucky still looked slightly shellshocked as he remained standing. "Thank you." Clint blinked confused.  
"What?"  
"It just... it feels weird you calling me Bucky. We're already acting like strangers, like the past year never happened. I know it's my fault Clint but... I don't want to just become 'The Winter Soldier' to you or 'Steve's best friend Bucky'. I don't care how the other's see me but you're different. You matter, I... I don't wanna lose you Clint."

Clint had to admit he hadn't been expecting this. He slowly got to his feet, taking a weary step forward. "Look, I'm not saying this isn't gonna take a while but... we will get through this. You've just got to give me some time. This is a lot to process." He just nodded, hanging his head. "To be honest." Clint continued, feeling like he had to say anything at this point to lift the man's spirits. "I'm more annoyed at myself for not figuring it out sooner. You're picture is literally hanging up in the lobby at S.H.I.E.L.D." He made a sound like a choked laugh, lifting his head to meet Clints eye.  
"Yeah?" Clint could hear in the tone of his voice that he was trying very hard not to laugh.  
"Yep. I mean I know Nat's always calling me stupid but this is bad, even for me."

That seemed to break the tension a little. "You didn't sign up for any of this." James sighed with a sad almost smile.   
"No, you're right. I didn't. But I'm not about to bale on this now because things are getting difficult. Everyone has a rough patch right?" This simply gained him a look that told him he was crazy. "You're calling a hidden identity a 'rough patch'?!" Clint just shrugged.   
"When have we ever done the whole normal thing anyway?" Bucky smiled softly. "Look I know this is difficult and it is gonna take me a while but I will get there. I mean after all the crazy stuff you've been through and put up with on my end I'm sure I can handle this."

He wasn't entirely sure who initiated it but the next second he knew his lips were pressed soft and warm against James'. He sighed with content before pulling back. "You should probably get some sleep. It's gonna be a long couple days." Bucky nodded and allowed Clint to pull him back towards the bedroom, relief flooding him system.


End file.
